Kenneth Franklin Weaver (November 29, 1915 – September 20, 2010) enjoyed a substantial 33-year career as a writer for the ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

''. His prolific tenure with ''National Geographic'' produced articles encompassing a range of subjects until he retired as Senior Science Editor in 1985.LJWorld.com / National Geographic memories
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Career

In 1952, Weaver was hired at ''The National Geographic'' in the legends department. "Legends" were, in fact, the

caption Caption may refer to: *Caption (text), explanatory text about specific published photos and articles *An element of comics where words appear in a separate box, see Glossary of comics terminology#Caption *Caption (comics convention), a small pres ...

s that accompanied the innovative, often exotic photography that the ''Geographic'' pioneered at that time. Weaver's work was widely viewed, as the majority of ''Geographic'' subscribers primarily opened the magazine to peruse the pictures. Within the legends department, Weaver thrived, and he was quickly promoted to

Staff Writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...

. His first ''Geographic'' article, entitled "Rip Van Winkle of the Underground: North America's Much Misunderstood Insect, the Periodical Cicada, Emerges After 17 Years in the Earth for a Fling in the Sun", was published in July 1953. Weaver's career is particularly notable for his coverage of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

, when he authored titles including "Countdown for Space" in May 1961, "And Now to Touch the Moon's Forbidding Face", May 1969, and "Journey to Mars", February 1973. Weaver's articles were translated in many languages, bringing together people whose existences were drastically different, but who shared a single fascination with a subject that went beyond any cultural or political disparity at that time (most importantly, the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

space race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

between the US and Soviet Union). All told, Weaver wrote 37 stories for ''The National Geographic'', mostly within the Science beat. Upon his retirement, he wrote his last piece for the ''Geographic's'' November 1985 issue, entitled "The Search for Our Ancestors: Stones, Bones, and Early Man." It was the magazine's cover story that month, with a three-dimensional hologram depicting an ancient fossilized skull of a five-year-old child, preserved for more than a million years in a South African cave.

List of articles

References

External links

Kenneth Weaver's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Kenneth American magazine editors American science writers American science journalists 1915 births 2010 deaths